


Don't Fear The Reaper

by Fave101



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fave101/pseuds/Fave101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matthew is the Grimm Reaper.  His job is to collect and judge souls.  He's always stayed hidden from most spirits.  When his husband, Jack Frost, and the Guardians drop in on his fight with a couple of summer spirits suddenly the Guardians take an interest in him.  As he gets to know the Guardians better, Pitch starts stealing souls again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Don't Fear the Reaper

**AN: I'm alive and back with a new fic! Whoooo!**

Jack laughed lightly as he unlatched one of the skylights overlooking the globe room. Ever since he became a guardian North had insisted on holding a meeting every month. He had gotten bored of them really quickly and skipped out on them every chance he got saying he needed to make a storm or another excuse.

The frost spirit flew down and landed in a crouch on the railing. He leaned his staff on his shoulder and looked around. He spotted Phil and waved. The yeti waved back, but gave him an annoyed look. None of the other guardians were around and Jack decided to go exploring. The wind carried him down into the workshop and into one of the old storage rooms.

The room was fairly small, but filled to the ceiling with old toys. Jack just stepped into the room when he heard a familiar sound. "Hey Bunny." He said turning around and crossing his arms with a smirk.

"What are you doing back here? Are ya lost?" Bunny asked leaning against the door frame.

Jack rolled his eyes. "No, no one was here yet so I got bored."

"North is still busy with the elves and Tooth and Sandy are on their way." Bunny said. "In the meantime, wanna grab a bite to eat?"

"No thanks Bunny. I already ate." The frost spirit lied. Over the past couple of months the guardian of hope had been shamelessly flirting with him. The first couple of times Jack ignored him and hoped he would stop, but it didn't work. Bunny opened his mouth to say something, but Jack beat him to it. "Bunny, stop flirting with me. I'm married"

Bunny stood straight up. "What?" He asked confused. Jack showed his hand with a clear crystal ring on his finger. "No way. You just made that ring out of ice!"

"It's not ice and I didn't make it." Jack said shaking his head. Bunny opened his mouth to say something, but North stomped into the room and pushed Bunny out of his way. The guardian of hope growled at being interrupted again.

"Jack! Bunny! We need to go!" North said grabbing Bunny and pulling him along while Jack followed.

"What's going on North?" He asked as the wind carried him behind the older guardians.

"Manny alerted us to a spirit fight that we need to break up." North said climbing into the sleigh and setting Bunny down. Jack climbed into the sleigh just as it sped forward. "Tooth and Sandy will meet us on the other side of the portal."

"That's a thing that we do?" Jack asked raising an eyebrow.

North ignored him and whispered into the snow globe and through it in front of them. It exploded and they flew through. The heat instantly hit Jack. It was uncomfortably warm for him. He looked around and spotted Sandy and tooth coming through the clouds. They flew over and landed on the sled.

The frost spirit looked over the side of the sleigh. Huge evergreen trees stretched out as far as he could see over the mountains. A very familiar winged spirit was flying over the trees avoiding small balls of fire being thrown at them by a summer spirit. The flaming fire ball glowed dark purple as it was shot back at its owner. Another summer spirit emerged from the trees and grabbed the winged spirit around the waist and tried to pull them down.

Jack growled and jumped over the edge of the sleigh firing a blast of ice at the summer spirit. He heard North yelling something at him, but ignored it and focused on the summer spirits. The wind carried him forward and he grabbed and pulled the summer spirit off the winged spirit.

"Thanks." Said the winged spirit from under his hood. He was wearing a dark red hoodie with a red bandanna covering his mouth and nose. He also wore dark jeans and work boots. His eyes were faintly glowing purple from under his hood as he stopped another fireball with his magic.

Jack turned just in time to see the ball being stopped and shot back. "Thanks Birdie!" He called and shot ice after the summer spirit. It hit them and the spirit fell into the forest. The summer spirits friend retreated after them. Jack motioned for Matthew to follow him and they landed in a small clearing. "Sorry Mattie, kinda brought some friends." He said apologetically once they landed. Matthew looked up and spotted the sleigh coming their way. "I think it's time I introduced them to you."

**AN: Yooo first part done! Actually all of them are, but shhh. Anyways this is the shortest chapter all the others are a little bit longer. I will be posting every other week, so two times a month. I feel bad for making Bunny like this, but I need some conflict!**

**If you have any questions just comment! I'll do my best to answer asap or change a future chapter to better explain things.**

 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Matthew watched as the sleigh got closer. He wasn't nervous to meet the guardians. He heard a lot about them from Jack, but not many spirits knew him and he wanted to keep it that way. Matthew folded his black and gold wings behind his back as the sleigh landed in front of them.

Jack took his hand in his and kissed his cheek. "They'll love you." He said reassuringly.

The guardians jumped out of the sled and raced over. Tooth zoomed around them. "Jack! Are you okay? You shouldn't do that! You could get hurt! Who's this?" She asked rapidly before flying back over to the guardians.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Matthew, my husband." Jack said shyly. He scratched the back of his neck and smiled. "Mattie, these are the guardians, North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunny." He said gesturing to each. Matthew waved.

Tooth squealed. "You guys are married! For how long? How did you first meet?" She asked quickly.

"Whoa Tooth slow down. I can't understand you." Jack laughed.

"Now, now Toothy, don't overwhelm them." North said loudly. "Hello, I'm North. It's nice to meet you Matthew."

"Thanks." Matthew said. His voice was slightly muffled by the bandanna. He pulled it down to be clearer, but his face was still hidden in shadows. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Would you like to come back to the pole for some coffee so we can get to know you better?" North asked.

"Umm... Okay, sure." Matthew said looking over to Jack who smiled.

-❄"There's a man going 'round taking names and he decides who to free and who to blame."❄-

The guardians and Matthew were currently sitting in one of the poles large living rooms. Matthew and Jack were sitting on a love seat with the guardians sitting in arm chairs across from them. Matthew felt like he was going to be interrogated. He leaned into Jack's side and the frost spirit put a hand around his waist too pull him closer.

"So, Matthew, what do you do? What are you the spirit of?" North asked first watching the couple closely.

Matthew pulled down the bandanna again and left it hanging around his neck. He didn't take his hood down. "I'm the Grim Reaper." He replied.

"So you kill people?" Bunny blurted out with a disgusted face.

"No. I help people's souls to the other side and judge where they're going." The Reaper said quickly. Bunny's expression didn't change.

"Then who kills them if it's not you?" The guardian of hope asked.

"No one. All humans have a date of death set when they are born. It's set by Death and Time. Weather they live to that date is their and the people around them's decision." Matthew said adjusting his wings to be more comfortable.

"You don't look like the Grim Reaper." Tooth said. "Well not as I expected anyways."

"He's not the stereotypical skull, long black robes and scythe Reaper." Jack said with a smile. "He prefers a hockey stick."

"There's more than one Reaper?" Sandy asked through his pictures.

Matthew shook his head. "Only one. All the souls go through me."

"Must be a lot of work." North commented. Matthew nodded. "So you two are married? For how long?"

"Coming up on twenty five years." Jack said hugging The Reaper closer.

"How long have you known each other? How old are you if you don't mind me asking?" Tooth asked.

"We've known each other for about three hundred years." The Reaper said leaning into Jacks touch. "I'm not sure how old I am. Maybe four hundred or three hundred and fifty?"

"So, how exactly do you 'judge' people?" Bunny asked. His voice was more of a growl than talking. Jack gave him an annoyed look.

"The rules weren't set by me, but if a human kills another human, or did something else horrible to them, they have to live out their victims life to see how horrible what they did to them was. Then spend some time in hell. After that they are sent to heaven and possibly reborn." Matthew explained. "I'm not really involved with that part though."

"What's hell like?" North asked.

The Reaper frowned. "It's different for everyone. Everybody has their own personal heaven and hell."

"So how do you judge someone? Do you have to go to their body or?" Tooth trailed off.

"Most of it is automatically done in my head, but some cases need more attention if they are complicated. Most souls find their way to me, but others, the lost and trouble ones, they need more help." Matthew explained shifting his wings again. It was hard to sit on a couch with wings.

"I don't think any of us have seen you before. So you keep hidden?" Tooth asked.

"Yes. I'd like to stay that way too." The Reaper said. Tooth nodded. "It's nice not to be noticed."

"How do your powers work?" Sandy signed. "What are they?"

"Well I can call fourth the souls of the dead as apparitions, move things with my mind as well as create small force fields, but that takes a lot out of me." Matthew said. He left a few things out, but they didn't need to know that. "Oh and fly, cause wings."

"The purple glow was things being moved by you?" Tooth asked and Matthew nodded. "That so cool!"

"Well it's getting late." Jack said looking out the window. "We should be getting home."

North nodded and stood up. Matthew stood up and stretched his wings. Tooth flew over and examined his wings. "They're really pretty." She said.

"Thanks." The Reaper said stretching one out so she could get a better look. The top feathers were pitch black while the primaries and secondaries were a bright gold that matched the hair that stuck out from under his hood. Sandy floated forward and Matthew took a step back. A question mark appeared over the guardian of dreams head. "Sorry, it's just that dream sand burns me." He explained bending down and pulling his pant leg up to show a nasty scar on his ankle the looked like it went further up his leg. "Learned that the hard way." Sandy apologized and the Reaper shook his head. "It's not your fault." He said reassuringly.

"Come on Birdie, I'll race you home." Jack said lightly tugging on Matthew's hood. Not enough that it would fall down. The Reaper nodded and said goodbye to the guardians. They urged him to come with Jack to the meetings and to drop in anytime. The pair waved as they flew off.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"So that went well." Jack said putting an arm around Matthew's waist as they stepped through the small opening that led into their cave house. The frost spirit pulled him over to the pile of blankets they called their bed. Jack flopped down on his back and Matthew sat cross-legged next to him.

"Yeah. The Easter Bunny seemed pretty defensive and grumpy though." The blonde said pulling his hood down and running a hand through his hair.

"Nah. He just salty." Jack said.

"Salty?" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow.

"It means jealous. Learned that one from Jamie." Jack said with a laugh.

"Slang is so weird now." The Reaper said flopping onto his back wings spread out. One went over Jack like a blanket and he petted it lightly. "Going to need to preen soon. My feathers are starting to bother me."

"They're so soft." The frost spirit hummed eyes closed. Matthew moved his wing up higher and tickled Jacks nose. He groaned and pushed it away. The Reaper laughed and moved to get up, but Jack grabbed his hand. "Hey, where you going? You're warm!"

"I'm just getting a book." Matthew said. Jack frowned, but let him go. "Thought you didn't like warmth." He commented standing up and walking over to the small desk in the corned and picking up a book.

"I like your warm." Jack grumbled. Matthew laughed and walked back over and sat cross-legged. The frost spirit crawled over and laid his head in Matthew's lap.

They stayed there for hours. The Reaper lazily turning pages and Jack half asleep watching him. Every so often Matthew's eyes would get a faraway look and he knew that the Reaper was looking over a bad case.

"Hey, Mattie?" Jack asked out of the blue. Matthew looked down. "Why do you feel so drawn to Canada?" He asked.

"I don't know. As long as I can remember I have been." The Reaper said thoughtfully. "It's more than me just liking the cold or the forests. It's like I have to go to Canada every so often or I don't feel right."

"It's the same with me and Germany, more the eastern part. I don't have any connections with it, but I still feel like I should visit it as often as possible." Jack said.

"You do have a German accent when you're mad." Matthew said.

"I didn't think about that." Jack grumbled. "Same with the name 'Gilbert,' every time I hear it I think someone is calling me."

"Do you think all spirits have the same thing?" The Reaper asked.

"No. I asked Sandy about it a while ago and I think he thought I was crazy." Jack sighed. "I would ask Manny, but he still doesn't really talk."

"I honestly wouldn't believe that he exists except I've talked to him like twice." The Reaper said closing his book and putting it on their nightstand. Jack was still lying on his back as Matthew laid down and curled into his side. The frost spirit smiled and wrapped his arms around his husband before falling asleep.

-❄"All in all we're just another brick in the wall."❄-

A couple of months later, the guardians saw a lot more of Matthew. They asked him to come to the meetings with Jack and for the most part he did, but sometimes he would have to leave because of a soul or had another meeting with Death.

Today, the Reaper was just flying around in a forest in Upper Canada. Jack was off making storms. Matthew found a tall tree and landed. He sat with his legs hanging over the branch. The Reaper sat there for a couple minutes watching the forest below. It was just starting to become fall and the leaves were changing.

Matthew groaned as a set of images flashed in front of his eyes. A boy surrounded by a group of other boys, an argument and then a fight. The boy needed him, he was lost. The Reaper jumped out of the tree and flew in the direction his instincts told him.

It wasn't a long flight, just over the boarder to the US. He found the body in an alleyway beaten and bloody. He crouched down next to the body. The Reaper placed his hand on the teen's chest and pulled his soul forward. It glowed a beautiful green and swirled around him.

Matthew's vision blurred again and the soul showed him more of the fight.

"You shouldn't have done that." The biggest of the group of boys growled.

"I'm sorry. It's not like I meant to miss that pass." The lone boy said sarcastically.

"I bet you did." The big one growled grabbing the boy's sweater and pushing him up against the ally wall. "You stupid bitch! Coach should have never let your sorry ass on the team; your kind doesn't deserve it."

The big one kicked the boy's legs out from underneath him. The others cheered him on then joined in as he kicked the lone boy in the stomach and ribs. The image faded and the soul floated in front of him. The soul was happy that someone knew what happened to him. The Reaper waved his hand again and the soul disappeared.

"Matthew?" A female voice asked from behind him.

The Reaper stood and turned quickly startled by the voice. He saw who it was and sighed. "Hi Tooth." He greeted pulling down his bandanna that was covering his mouth, but he still left his hood up.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Tooth asked flying closer to the body.

"He's gone." Matthew said shaking his head. "He got cornered by some teammates and they had an argument about a game."

"What are we going to do about it?" She asked.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do for him now." The Reaper said. "I'm going to lead a person here. Hopefully they figure out what happened and punish those kids. If they get off easy with them, they won't with me when their time comes."

"How will you lead someone here? They can't see you can they?" Tooth asked.

"No they can't see me. If they're curious enough they'll follow a trail of rocks being thrown." Matthew said. Just as he finished a lady walked past the ally. He quickly waved his hand and a can glowed purple and rolled into the street landing at the lady's feet.

"Hello?" She asked peeking into the ally. She gasped and rushed forward spotting the body. She ran right through Matthew and he shivered. "Oh my god!" She yelled taking out her phone and calling 911.

"We'll have to see what happens from here." The Reaper said spreading his wings and getting ready to fly.

"Yeah-" Tooth said as a baby tooth flew in front of her. "Oh sorry, got to go. See you later!" She said flying off.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

**AN: Sorry for posting a little later than normal. I caught a cold…**

"Birdie! Pay attention to me!" Jack whined tugging lightly on Matthew's sweater. He still kept his hood up; the only place he ever took it down was at home.

They were currently in Japan sitting under a tree. It was chilly out, but not snowing yet. The Reaper sat cross legged preening his feathers; Jack was sprawled out in front of him.

"Sorry Jackie, I'm almost done." The blond said finishing a row of feathers and moving on to the next. The frost spirit groaned exasperatedly. He rolled over onto his stomach and started to draw patterns in the grass with his staff. "There, done." The Reaper said.

"Finally! Jack said sitting up. "What do you wanna do?"

"Could sneak into a movie?" He suggested.

"What about Finding Dory or Now You See Me 2?" The frost spirit suggested. "Or-"

He was cut off as a rabbit hole opened up in front of them and a very grumpy Bunny emerged. "You're late." He growled thumping his foot on the ground

"Late?" Jack asked confused.

Bunny shook his head looking down on them. "Two of you and neither one can remember when the meetings are." He said. Then looked at Matthew. "You're a bad influence."

Jack quickly stood up and got right in Bunny's face. "Don't blame him." He growled. "I forgot, I didn't realize what day it was." The frost spirit said putting emphasis on the I's.

"Whatever." The guardian of hope said taking a step back. "North wants you there and the Reaper's invited." He spat. Bunny always avoided calling Matthew by name. Jack turned back to the Matthew and helped him up.

"We'll meet you at the pole." The frost spirit said wind swirling around him and the Reaper.

"Fine, but don't keep North waiting." Bunny said tapping his foot and jumping down the rabbit hole.

Jack turned back to Matthew and shrugged. "Man, he is one grumpy old kangaroo." He commented calling the wind. It swirled around him messing up his hair. "We should get going. Don't wanna make him madder."

The frost spirit smiled playfully and kissed him on the lips before Matthew pulled his bandanna up.

"Race?" Jack asked.

The Reaper smirked. "You're on."

-❄"It's better to be hurt than to hurt others."❄-

"Hah! Beat you by a mile!" Jack laughed as he opened the window to the pole and climbed in.

The Reaper pulled down his bandanna, but left up his hood. "More like a couple of centimetres and only because you had wind! Without them you wouldn't even be able to fly!" The blond said lightly punching Jack as he also climbed through the window.

Matthew looked over the edge of the rafters, his eyes glowing a dim purple. The other guardians were waiting by the globe. Bunny was impatiently thumping his foot waiting. North and Sandy seemed to be playing a game of charades and Tooth was ordering the Baby Teeth.

"Sorry we're late." Jack said landing on the floor Matthew beside him.

"It is no problem. We all forget things." North said with a comforting smile. "Let's get started then!"

The guardians started to talk about their jobs and if anything had gone wrong in the past couple of weeks. They also talked about the increase of nightmare that kids were having, but brushed if off because of school coming up. Matthew and Jack got bored quickly. The Reaper sat with his legs hanging over the railing overlooking the workshop below. Jack standing facing the opposite way and leaning against him.

The blond was watching the yetis hastily walking below. One would look up at him every once in a while. He spotted something in the shadows and looked closer. Matthew was about to jump down when an elf ran out of the shadows followed by another riding on a toy train. He relaxed back into Jack's side. The frost spirit had noticed and raised an eyebrow. The blond shook his head and shrugged.

"Naw, I haven't seen any around for a while mate." Bunny said catching Matthew's attention. "I'm tellin' ya, he's gone."

"Oh Bunnymund, how wrong you are." A low smooth voice said from out of know where. "Oh, another surprise!" Pitch laughed appearing behind the guardians. "The Grim Reaper is a guardian now? Aren't you a little too _dark_?" He hissed.

"I am not a guardian." Matthew said hopping off the railing and walking up to Pitch until he was inches away, rolling up his sleeves. "I've been looking for you."

"Why would that be?" The king of darkness asked flashing a terrifying grin. The Reaper didn't back down or step away.

"You know exactly why." The blond growled.

"Oh, you mean these?" Pitch said calling his fearlings to his side. The guardians, other than Jack, took a couple of steps back carefully watching the black screeching creatures.

Matthew smiled from underneath his hood. He waved his hand and the fearlings disappeared in a puff of black sand and smoke. They left behind glowing souls that also disappeared seconds after. "That's six of the hundreds you need to release." He said as Pitch took a step back. The king of darkness's face changed from shock to a smirk as he called his nightmares and surrounded the guardians.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

**AN: Almost forgot that I was supposed to post today... Whoops!**

The guardians tensed watching the nightmares circle around them. Pitched laughed at their faces and disappeared into the shadows before Matthew could grab him. The nightmares jumped forward attacking the guardians. Each fought with their own weapon. The Reaper whacked the nightmares away with his wings or putting up a small force field for them to run into, but it wasn't enough to kill them.

Matthew looked around for something to throw at the mares with his magic, but he didn't want to break any of North's toys. He spotted a rack of unpainted metal hockey sticks. One glowed purple and flew into his hand. The Reaper sliced through the first one he saw and then spun hearing one stomp up behind him. He slapped it across the face and it stumbled backwards into another mare both falling to the ground. They were both frozen to the floor with an ice beam from Jack.

The Reaper watched carefully as he fought watching for Sandy's attacks. He stayed as far away from the dream sand as possible; nightmare sand didn't affect him at all. Matthew saw another nightmare running at him out of the corner of his eye. He didn't have enough time to swing at it. The blond hopped into the air and came back down slicing through its back. He looked around again and noticed that Jack was getting swarmed.

Matthew was getting ready to fly over when something slammed into his side and threw him into a wall. He groaned gaining his bearings again.

Pitch was standing over him a scythe in hand. "A hockey stick? A little unconventional for the Grim Reaper don't you think? What happened to the usual dagger?" He sneered.

Matthew swung the stick at the king of nightmares knocking his legs out from underneath him. He looked back over to Jack and sent a couple of nightmares flying into walls with his magic before focusing back on Pitch. He was just getting up and readied his scythe. The Reaper took up a defensive stance watching Pitch carefully.

The king of darkness attacked first going right for Matthew's throat. The Reaper threw up a force field just before Pitch's scythe would have cut his neck. The force field cracked on impact, but didn't break. Matthew lunged at Pitch swinging with his hockey stick, but didn't make contact. The nightmare king side stepped away from the attack and threw nightmare sand into the blond's eyes. Matthew hissed wiping his face, but he couldn't see.

The Reaper focused on his hearing, but wasn't used to being completely in the dark. He still heard the sounds of a battle going on around him, but nothing to close. He kept blinking trying to get the sand out of his eyes. He blindly threw up a force field not knowing if it would help. Matthew didn't notice Pitch until he grabbed the hockey stick out of his hands and threw it away. The king of nightmares grabbed him by the hood and kicked him in the back.

Matthew fell through something before hitting the floor. He rolled back onto his feet, but felt something on his arms. It was warm and getting hotter until it burned. He yelped and brushed his arms off, but now his hand burned. The blond's vision finally cleared and he looked down at his arms. They were covered in nasty burns. Most of the dream sand was gone, but they'd still need to be cleaned. He gritted his teeth and hissed at the pain.

The Reaper looked around preparing himself for another attack, but all the nightmares were gone. The guardians were still poking around.

Jack flew over to him worry plastered all over his face. "Are you okay Birdie?" He asked.

"Yeah, just a couple of burns." Matthew lied.

The frost spirit frowned. "'Just a couple of burns!'" He imitated. "Here, give me your arms and hands." The Reaper did as he was told and Jack put his arms on top of his. The winter spirit's cool skin soothed the burns. "Let's get a first aid kit." He said.

"Look who's being all responsible." The blond commented with a smile. Jack rolled his eyes and took his hands away. Matthew whined and Jack motioned for him to follow. The frost spirit led him to a sink in a room just off the globe room. He turned the water on to room temperature before a putting his husbands arms under the stream. It washed the last bits of sand away and soothed them more.

Jack dug around under the sink before coming back up with a first aid kit. He dressed Matthew's wounds and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Better?" He asked.

The Reaper nodded with a smile. "Do I get a lollipop?"

"Nope." Jack smiled kissing Matthew on the forehead, then he got serious. "Your hood."

"I know. Oh well, can't hide forever." Matthew said. His hood was down and his bandanna was around his neck.

"I think up until now the guardians thought it was just a skull or something under there." The frost spirit said taking Matthew's hand being very gentle because of the burns. "Let's go back. I'm sure they're worried by now. I don't think they saw us leave."


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Matthew and Jack walked back into the globe room where the guardians were still poking around, but now they seem more frantically. Tooth looked up as they entered.

"Where have you been?! We were so worried!" The guardian of memories yelled zipping over.

"Sorry Tooth." Jack apologized running a hand through his hair.

"Are you okay? We heard a scream." North said walking over Sandy and Bunny following behind. North spotted the bandages on Matthew's arms. "What happened?"

"Pitch pushed me into some dream sand." The Reaper said. Sandy quickly apologized, but Matthew shook his head. "It wasn't your fault." Sandy kept insisting it was, but the Reaper tried to convince him it wasn't his fault. "It really wasn't your fault. Pitch got me; you didn't have anything to do with it."

"I'm sorry, this is off topic, but Matthew your eyes are such a pretty colour." Tooth said flying up to him to get a better look. "You're so adorable."

"Thank you?" The blond said a little unsure of himself.

Jack put his arm around Matthew's waist and pulled him close. "Mine." He said jokingly. Tooth laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You seemed to know Pitch pretty well." Bunny commented nose in the air.

"Yep, unfortunately. He steals a couple of souls every so often and makes fearlings out of them. It gets to the point where he's taken to many and I hunt him down and take them back." Matthew shrugged. "His fearlings can't hurt me and the nightmares are pretty weak, so the only real threat is him."

"You don't seem scared of him." North pointed out.

"Not really. I've fought him so many times I've lost count. Even Reapers before me fought Pitch because he stole souls." The Reaper said scratching the back of his head.

"Reapers before?" Sandy signed.

"There's been a couple before me, or at least that's what Death tells me." Matthew said and paused thinking something over. "Death won't tell me anything about them other than their gone back into the reincarnation cycle. Every time I ask he gets a faraway look in his eyes."

"You know Death?" North asked.

Matthew nodded. "We play chess every other week. He tells me what my work load of natural deaths should be and an estimate of everything else."

"How does Pitch get to the souls before you? They go to you automatically?" Tooth asked.

"Most of them do, but the really troubled ones need help. It's hard for me to get to them all, especially the way things are now." The Reaper said looking down. Tooth remembered that night and nodded. "He probably feels their fear, that's how he finds them. He can shadow jump to them before I can get there."

"Maybe you should be better at your job." Bunny said.

Jack growled and took a threatening step forward, but Matthew grabbed his wrist and shook his head. "I wish I could let you see what I have to do in a day. How many gruesome deaths I see play out in my head that I can't do anything to stop?" The Reaper said. His eyes were dull and clouded over. "The number of children that were killed by terrorists or even their own parents. The worst time was during was the world wars. I saw every one of the soldiers, prisoners of war and the people in the Nazi camps deaths. I couldn't get to everyone. So many were lost." He looked at the floor. The Reaper hated thinking about the wars. There were so many times that if Jack wasn't there Matthew would have ended it.

"You see all the deaths?" North asked pity in his eyes. All of the guardians looked concerned for him except Bunny. His face stayed in an annoyed frown.

"Yeah." The Reaper said. "I can push most of them to the back of my mind, but some demand to be seen."

Sandy brought up some dreamsand and looked about ready to sign something when a raven flew into the room out of nowhere. It glided over to Matthew and landed on his shoulder. It had a piece of paper tied to one of its feet. The Reaper took it and read it.

"I'm sorry, I need to go." Matthew said. "Death needs to see me right away."

"Right." North said with a weak smile. Jack brought him in for a kiss before letting him go. "You know the way out."

Matthew waved as he started down to the front entrance of the pole. He was pretty much spaced out walking through the empty halls of the pole. There weren't any yetis or elves running around and it was pretty quiet. The hall was long and barely lit by torches. There were no windows because this side of the pole was built into the side of a glacier.

The Reaper heard loud footsteps behind him. They were loud and he could hear the clicking of claws. He assumed it was a yeti and zoned out again. Matthew didn't pay any more attention to the footsteps until someone grabbed him and pinned him against the wall. The person held his arms above his head and his feet weren't touching the floor.

Matthew yelped trying to get free of his attacker. He kicked at their shins and struggled trying to get his hands free.

"You're not going anywhere." Bunny said tightening his grip on the blond's hands. Matthew's eyes darted around looking for something he could throw at Bunny with his magic, but there were no loose objects around. He looked Bunny right in the eyes. "Not so tough now that there's nobody around."

"Let me go." The Reaper growled.

"No." The guardian of hope spat. "You're not good enough for Jack. I-" Matthew looked around for an escape, but he couldn't find one. Bunny's grip was too strong and his kicks didn't seem to hurt him. The Reaper had to sing. His voice paralyzed whoever it was directed at until he stopped singing. It didn't have to be a particular song or even start at the beginning. He only used it as a last resort, he didn't like using it.

 _"Voices calling, voices crying. Some are born and some are dying. Alpha and omega's kingdom come."_ Matthew sang. Bunny loosened his grip enough for him to slip away. He flew up into the rafters still singing. _"And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. The virgins are all trimming their wigs. The whirlwind is in the thorn tree. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks."_ Bunny stayed in the same position facing the wall as the Reaper sang. He skipped over a bit of the song, forgetting the lyrics. _"The wise men will bow down before the thrown and at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns when the man comes around."_

The blond stopped singing and Bunny turned around looking confused before looking up. He spotted Matthew perched in the rafters and looked like he was going to try to climb up.

The Reaper started to sing again not wanting more conflict. _"Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still. Whoever is_ _righteous_ _, let him be_ _righteous_ _still. Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still. Listen to the words long written down. When the man comes around."_ Matthew jumped through the rafters still singing making his was to door. He opened it and flew quickly towards Death's place hopping Bunny wouldn't try that again.

**AN: The song Matthew sang is 'The Man Comes Around,' by Johnny Cash. I prefer the early take if this song, but the final take is good too.**


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Death was pacing. He knew something was wrong with his Reaper. He felt a sharp pain in his arms earlier, but soon after anger, then sadness. He knew that something had happened to Matthew and sent a raven.

Death was able to feel all the Reaper's negative emotions and pain. He knew whenever Matthew was in danger. It was his job to keep the Reaper's from dying or committing suicide, but he was unable to leave his house to help them. They had to come to him. He was surprised how long some of them lasted seeing people be killed every day. He didn't see the violence, only set the dates.

The tall man started to worry more when he felt another spike of fear. He paced faster. He wished he could see what was happening. Just as he turned to walk again the door opened and Matthew stepped in pulling down his hood and bandanna.

"Is everything okay?" The Reaper asked worriedly. It wasn't normal for Death to see him on such short notice.

"Everything is fine with me." Death said in his low smooth voice. He looked Matthew over and noticed the bandages wrapped neatly around his arms. "What happened to your hands?" Death asked siting down in his leather arm chair and motioning for the blond to sit where ever he liked.

The Reaper sat and explained what happened with Pitch and how he got burnt. "Hmmm. Those will take quite some time to heal." Death said. The Reaper healed much slower than a normal spirit, but still quicker than a human. "Did anything else happen after?" Death asked remembering the fear from a few minutes ago.

Matthew frowned knowing he couldn't hide anything from Death. "Yes, Bunnymund attacked me. I had to sing to get away." He said looking down at the floor.

"I don't understand why you don't use your singing power." Death said. "Or your specter power. It could scare your attacker off."

"I don't like it." The Reaper sighed. "I don't want people to be afraid of me."

"If it stops someone from hurting you than I'd recommend you use your abilities" Death said leaning back in his chair. "Pitch has been taking souls again? When are you planning to take them back?"

"Soon. He's only been taking one a month, but this month it's been three. He hasn't gotten to a thousand souls yet. That's normally when I go after him." Matthew said rubbing his arm. They were starting to ache.

"Will you take your husband with you this time? Or the guardians now that you know them?" Death asked crossing one leg over the other.

"No." The blond said quickly. "I don't want them to get hurt."

"What about you? You need to think about yourself as well! You heal a lot slower Matthew." Death said with a worried frown.

"I just don't want anything to happen to them." The Reaper said looking at the floor.

"You know better that anyone that no one is immortal. You need to take care of yourself too. Bringing others will make it a lot easier and less likely for anyone to be hurt." Death said intertwining his hands and placing them on his knee.

"Knowing Jack, now that he's fought Pitch and won, he'll probably want to help." Matthew said.

"I hope you let him." Death mumbled. Then cleared his throat. Well I might as well tell you your workload now, it should be about 1,070,000."

Matthew nodded listening closely. It was essential he knew how many people he would be processing. Most people were processed by his subconscious, but it still took a lot out of him. The last couple of weeks hadn't been as bad as usual. The Reaper was enjoying the 'break,' but by the sound of it, his break was coming to an end.

"Alright, I'll let you go now." Death said standing up. Matthew did the same, but stretched. Death lead him to the door and waved goodbye. The Reaper smiled and waved before flying off towards home.

-❄"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."❄-

Once he got home, the Reaper tried to lie on the bed, but his hands and arms only ached worse. He got up and laid face down on the cool stone floor. It was pretty uncomfortable, but helped soothe the ache in his arms.

"What are you doing Birdie?" Jack asked flying into the cave.

"Arms are sore." Matthew mumbled half asleep. "Floor cold."

"North gave me some stuff to put on them. It should take the heat out." The winter spirit said helping Matthew up. He led him over to their small kitchen table. Jack unwrapped the bandages and winced. The burns were not a pretty sight. He gently rubbed the cream into the burns and Matthew hissed. It stung for a while, but then all the pain was gone. "Better?" Jack asked giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Yes, much." The Reaper hummed, then yawned.

"It says that we should change them every other day." Jack said reading the back of the container. Matthew got up and walked back over to the bed and flopped down. "Better stock up on bandages."

"I'll get some tomorrow." The blond said from under the blankets. "I still need to take those library books back."

"You've had them for like two months now!" Jack laughed and crawled into the bed beside his husband. The Reaper cuddled into his chest and Jack kissed him on the lips. The frost spirit pulled back and put his hands on Matthew's waist to pull him closer. "I love you."

"Love you too." Matthew murmured falling asleep.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The Reaper frowned as he flexed his hand. He was finally able to keep the bandages off, but his burns weren't healed fully yet. They were at the point where they'd dried out and new skin was showing. His hands were stiff and sore, but his arms were itchy. He didn't mind scars, but he kept them hidden under his hoodie.

Matthew was on his way back home from collecting a soul in Romania. He was flying over Belgium when he spotted snow clouds in the distance. The blond flew towards them knowing Jack was in the area. It didn't take long to find the winter spirit; he was in the heart of the storm.

"Hello Birdie!" Jack called as soon as he spotted him. "What's a cute little bird doing way up here?"

"Just looking for my handsome husband." Matthew said with a smile. The wind blew around them keeping the Reaper in one place in the air. "I was heading home and saw the snow clouds."

"I'm almost done here. What do you want to do today?" Jack asked than gasped. "Wait, what day is it?"

"I don't know, Tuesday maybe? Saturday?" Matthew said thoughtfully.

"Never mind, the meeting was last week." Jack said with a sigh. "We should really get a calendar."

The blonde nodded in agreement. "I need to get a new hockey stick. My wood one broke!" Matthew pouted sarcastically. "It was my favourite!"

"Ohhh, boo." The frost spirit said and kissed the Reaper's forehead. "Let's get a new, better one. Canada?"

"Canada."

-❄"What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live, the tales we tell ourselves."❄-

The Reaper ground his teeth together in anger. He was at the end of his very long rope with Pitch. The king of nightmares had stolen another soul making his count almost nine hundred and fifty. He looked down at the woman's lifeless body and sighed. He didn't get to her quick enough.

Matthew spread his wings and flew towards home. He needed to grab his hockey stick or dagger. He hoped that Jack wasn't home. The blond didn't want him to get involved and get hurt. He landed on the step of their cave and walked in.

The Reaper looked around, but saw no sign that Jack had been home since the morning. He stomped over to the small wardrobe the couple kept and grabbed his hockey stick and rummaged around for his dagger. He normally didn't keep it on him and hadn't used it in years. He was in too much of a rush to keep looking. Matthew turned to leave, but Jack was standing in the entrance.

"Going after Pitch?" He asked.

"Yeah." The Reaper said shyly keeping his hockey stick behind his back.

"I'm going with you this time." The winter spirit said firmly. Matthew shifted his weight. Jack stepped forward and put his hands around the blond's waist and pulled him close. He relaxed into Jacks touch. "Birdie, I worry about you going by yourself. Pitch could capture you and I wouldn't know what happened. He could hurt you again."

"But-" The Reaper started, but was cut off.

"Nah, no buts. I'm going with you whether you like it or not." Jack said with a smile hugging Matthew and kissing his jaw line.

"Fine, but be careful." The Reaper said as Jack let go.

"Of course!" The winter spirit said. "Where is Pitch?"

"From what I can tell, he's somewhere around the Baltic states or Poland." The blond said.

"Right, we'll go from there." Jack said and turned towards the opening of their cave still holding Matthew's hand.

-❄"The Reaper plays solitaire when he's got some time to kill, but when your time's up it's back to work, cos he's gotta make a living like the rest of us."❄- -

Matthew looked down over the city the pair was currently flying over. The sun had just gone down and it was getting dark quickly. The Reaper had spotted a couple of nightmares running through the sky all heading in the same direction. The pair followed them, but they were quick and hid in the shadows. The pair landed on top of a sky scraper and tried to spot more nightmares.

A stream of golden sand wove its way through the sky. Minutes later they spotted Sandy. He waved and floated over.

"What are you guys doing out so late?" Sandy signed with his sand.

"We're looking for Pitch." Jack said.

"You two are planning to fight him by yourselves?" Sandy asked skeptically. Jack and Matthew both nodded. "The rest of the guardians will help you."

"No, we're okay." Jack said quickly shaking his head.

"Anything to do with Pitch, all the guardians will be involved." Sandy signed with a serious face.

Matthew and Jack didn't look very happy with Sandy, but knew not to argue with the guardian of dreams. It didn't take long for the other guardians to appear on the roof top.

"Do we have any idea where Pitch is?" Bunny asked. He sounded like he just woke up.

"Yes, he's somewhere around here. We've seen a couple of nightmares all heading in that direction." Jack said pointing to the east.

"What's our plan than?" Tooth asked.

"Plan?!" North laughed. "Since when have we ever made a plan! We go and kick butt! That is plan!"

Jack laughed at North and then noticed Matthew had left his side. He watched as the Reaper walked over to the edge of the roof and looked over the edge. He looked back over to Jack and smiled before jumping off. Matthew let himself fall a couple stories before spreading his wings and gliding over the city. Within seconds Jack was at his side with Tooth and Sandy not too far behind.

**AN: Sorry if I haven't been replying to comments, I haven't really been feeling that great this week.**


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Matthew looked below. They had spotted a nightmare and followed it. The mare had led them to a small Estonian town that was surrounded on all sides by a dense dark forest. The Reaper dipped closer to the tree tops trying to spot the nightmare.

The blond spotted a flicker of black reflecting the moonlight out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed onto a branch, but had too much momentum. He used his wings to slow down and dropped onto the branches below so he could see the forest floor. Jack, Sandy and Tooth landed next to him while North and Bunny circled overhead in the sleigh.

"See something?" Jack asked. Matthew nodded and pointed into the forest. Sandy sent a firework of dreamsand to signal for North and Bunny to land. The Reaper slipped off the branch and landed in a crouch on the forest floor. He camouflaged well in the darkness, but his bright gold feathers stuck out.

The forest was fairly quiet accept for the breeze blowing through and rustling the leaves. The blond listened carefully trying to hear the sound of hooves, a neigh or even the sound of the fearlings. He knew they were close, but couldn't pinpoint where. When a soul is made into a fearling it becomes a lot harder for the Reaper to track.

Matthew stood up and quietly walked through the underbrush. Jack landed lightly beside him staff ready to fight. It didn't take them long to find the entrance to Pitch's lair, it was a hole wide enough to fit a small car. The winter spirit waved for Tooth and Sandy, who were still waiting in the trees, to come down. North and Bunny popped out of a rabbit hole not to long after.

"Let's go!" North yelled excitedly. Matthew tucked his wings behind his back and gripped his hockey stick tightly before letting himself drop down the hole. It was pitch black and the Reaper couldn't see a thing. He used his magic to create a low purple glow; just enough to see what was in front of him. Jack, North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunny followed. Sandy's dreamsand gave off enough light to see the rest of the small cavern they were in.

The cavern looked natural and untouched by Pitch until the Reaper spotted a trail of nightmare sand leading into the small tunnels that sloped further into the ground. Matthew started to follow the trail, Jack right beside him.

"How far do you think this goes down?" Tooth whispered.

"No idea." Bunny replied. "I don't like this."

"What's the matter Bunny, scared of the dark?" North teased. The Reaper rolled his eyes and focused on finding the souls. They seemed to be somewhere on his left and deeper underground, some of the fearlings felt different from others.

They came to a fork in the tunnel and Matthew immediately started down the left one. "We'll split up here, Tooth and Sandy will come with me, and Bunny'll go with Jack and Matthew."

Bunny looked like he was about to complain, but ran down the tunnel to Matthew's light before it disappeared. He stomped closely behind the couple, a grumpy look on his face.

"Getting close." The Reaper said looking around eyes glowing violet under his hood. The tunnel started to open up into a bigger cavern again. Matthew walked slowly forward. Suddenly the ground ended and dropped off straight down. He couldn't see how far down it went, but he sensed souls. "There are fearlings down there."

"Well, not going down there then." The guardian of hope said. Before could he say anything else, the Reaper and winter spirit had jumped off the ledge.

"It's not too far down!" Jack yelled up. His voice echoed. Bunny signed and hopped after them.

The blond squinted into the darkness. He could feel someone else's presence nearby.

"Boo." Pitch said stepping out of the shadows face to face with the Reaper. Matthew swung his hockey stick at him and Jack shot a blast of ice, but the nightmare king had already disappeared back into the shadows. "That's no way to treat your host." Pitch laughed. "I have an offer to make you, Reaper, Frost. Join me and we can-"

"No." Jack and Matthew said in unison.

"Fine." Pitch said reappearing with a menacing grin on his face. Bunny and Jack tensed taking a step backwards. "Then I will just have to eliminate you."

Nightmares and fearlings surrounded the trio. The light from Matthew's hands reflected off the sand of the mares. He waved his hand and the fearlings among them disappeared. Bright multicoloured orbs of light floated out of them than also disappeared.

"Haven't you learned after almost an eternity of fighting Grim Reapers that fearlings don't work against us?" Matthew asked with a smirk grabbing Pitch by the collar and throwing him back into his nightmares. Pitch got back to his feet with a growl and directed the nightmares towards them.

The black horses stampeded in a wave neighing and nipping at them. Jack shot a blast of ice and froze a quarter of the mares and Bunny threw his boomerang at the ice shattering it.

The rest of the nightmares charged forward. Matthew picked up two of them with his magic and threw them at back at the other mares. The ones he threw crashed into two others dissolving all four. The Reaper kept the sand in his magic and moved to towards the ceiling. The dull purple glow lighting up the cavern. He put it at the back of his mind making sure the room stayed lit.

The blond jumped back as a mare reared up and snapped at his arms. He hit it over the head with his hockey stick and turned to hit another before it got to close. Pitch appeared next to him, scythe in hand, but Matthew was ready. He dropped into a crouch and swung his stick knocking Pitch's legs out from underneath him.

The Reaper was about to jump on top of Pitch to pin him, but a nightmare tackled him. He ended up on his back, hockey stick gone, surrounded by angry stomping nightmares. Matthew covered his face with his arms and tried to roll away, but one stomped down on his wing. He yelped as another nightmare stomped on his other wing, pinning him down. The reaper was too preoccupied with keeping the room lit at he couldn't use his magic to get the horses off him. He looked up to see Pitch looming over him.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

**AN: Merry Christmas and happy holidays!**

Pitch stood over him sneering. He struggled, but the mares had their full weight on his wings. The nightmare king opened his mouth to say something, but was kicked in the jaw by Jack. He pushed him into one of the nightmares holding Matthew down. The Reaper rolled over and grabbed the nightmares legs and whacked it with his other wing. The mare reared up long enough for him to get his wing out from underneath its hooves.

Matthew rolled back onto his feet and dived over to where his hockey stick was and smacked a nightmare that got to close. He looked around, the number of nightmares was dwindling to about twenty. Bunny threw his boomerang and hit three of the mares then kicked one in the face. Pitch had disappeared again. Jack flew over to him, freezing a couple of nightmares on the way.

"You okay?" Jack asked worriedly landing beside him and keeping a defensive stance.

"Just a few ruffled feathers. Nothing's broken, luckily." Matthew said. "What about you?"

"A couple cuts and bruises, nothing major." Jack said soothing a blast of ice at a group of nightmares.

Bunny finished off the last mare and trudged over. "You got the souls back, let's find the others and leave." He said with a huff.

"That was maybe half of the souls." Matthew said shaking his head. He pulled the sand off the ceiling and formed it into a glowing purple ball. "We need to keep going."

"Are ya serious? After that there's still more left!" Bunny grumbled under his breath. "There at least had to have been a couple hundred fearlings there!"

"You can leave if you want, but have fun finding your way out." Jack said with a sly smile.

The Reaper started towards the other end of the cave where he had seen another tunnel earlier. He was starting to get a head ache from using a lot of magic and concentrating hard. Jack jogged to catch up with him, Bunny hopping close behind.

The long rock tunnel started to climb back upwards and soon they came into a large open room. There were holes in the rock ceiling where vines and moss hung down and moonlight shone through. Matthew dropped the sand and it slithered back into the shadows. He held his hockey stick close ready for Pitch to appear.

A glow a gold caught Matthew's attention and he spun to face it, but it was gone. "What did ya see Reaper?" Bunny asked.

The blond turned to answer Bunny, but something caught his eye behind the guardian of hope. He recognized what it was and caught the black sand arrow inches before it would have hit Bunny. The rabbit turned around and gasped seeing the arrow and how close it was.

"That was close." Bunny said. Matthew dissolved the arrow and dropped the sand. The guardian of hope turned to him. "Thanks mate."

The Reaper smiled. "No problem." He said. Matthew looked around knowing Pitch was hiding in the shadows.

"Come out Pitch, we know you're here." Jack said his voice echoing.

"Be careful what you wish for Frost." Pitch said stepping out of the shadows. The trio got ready for another fight. "I'd like to introduce to you a new breed of fearling, Oculi Mortui. Made especially for you Reaper." The king of nightmare smiled bringing one forward. It was the shape of a human, but twisted and dripping like black ink. It took a step towards them, raspy breath and groaning.

Matthew started to pull the soul forward, but pain bloomed in his head and the soul started to scream. He let go out of surprise and the screaming and pain stopped.

"Birdie?" Jack asked seeing the pained look in his husbands face.

"It hurts them." The Reaper said. Pitch's laugh echoed through the cavern as he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared leaving behind more Oculi. The king of darkness wouldn't be back for a while.

"What can we do? How do we fight them?" Jack asked.

"Can you please freeze their feet to the floor?" Matthew asked. The frost spirit nodded and shot a blast of ice at the pack of Oculi. They groaned and moved like zombies scraping and clawing at the ice that came up to their waist.

The Reaper walked up to the one he tried to pull the soul out of earlier; Jack and Bunny stayed back. He reached out and tried to pull the soul again, but it started screaming again. He let go and stepped back.

"What are you going to do?" Jack asked.

"I'm going to try to bring another soul forward, someone they knew, and see if they can help." Matthew said.

"Why don't you just take them out even if it hurts them? Won't it be better in the long run?" Bunny asked.

"If it hurts them it hurts their future and next incarnation. It's part of my job to protect that." The Reaper said shaking his head. He concentrated on the soul and picked the best person to help them. In their case it was an older sister who died because of cancer. Her soul swirled bright orange around him and formed into an orange translucent young woman. She smiled at the Reaper then moved towards her brother.

"How did you do that?" Bunny asked.

"I might have left a few things out when Sandy asked about my powers." The blond said watching the sister walk up to the Oculi.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

**AN: Gotta go back to school tomorrow ;-; I don't wanna. I have also been binge watching Dan and Phil and I keep forgetting that they aren't a couple…**

Matthew watched as the sister walked up to her sibling and hugged them. The Oculi Mortui groaned and she hugged tighter. The sand started to drip from them and turned into a thick gritty ink. The Oculi melted under the touch of their loved one leaving behind a blue silhouette. Both silhouettes flashed and disappeared leaving only an inky black sand puddle on the ground.

"What just happened?" Bunny asked hopping forward to get a better look at the remaining Oculi.

"The sister broke through whatever spell Pitch put on them." The Reaper said. He started to search the other Oculi Mortui's souls to find someone that could affect them the same way. He pulled the ones forward that would positively affect the Oculi. The souls swirled around him before forming into translucent silhouettes of people. They waved or smiled at the Reaper before walking to their Oculi Mortui. The Reaper groaned and held his head. He was using too much magic and it was starting to get to him.

"You okay Birdie?" Jack asked walking over and putting a hand around Matthew's waist and let him lean on him.

"Just magically tired." The blind said resting his head on the frost spirits shoulder. They watched as the souls freed their Oculi and swirled away. Matthew was surprised that Pitch hadn't shown up again.

Bunny leaned down to inspect the black puddle he went to touch it and paused ears flicking back towards where they entered the cavern. Jack and Matthew turned to look at the door to see the rest of the guardians enter.

"Ah! There you are! We hit a dead end and turned back." North said walking up to them with Sandy and Tooth. "What happened here?"

"Pitch brought in some new fearlings that Birdie couldn't just wave away." Jack explained.

Tooth looked over the Reaper and saw how tired he looked and that he was leaning on Jack. "Are you okay Matthew? Did Pitch hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine just tired." The Reaper said with a yawn. He also was developing another headache. Jack and Bunny quickly explained what happened with the Oculi Mortui and how non-threatening they were. They also explained how they were defeated.

"How many more fearlings are left?" Sandy asked.

"Only about a hundred or so. No more Oculi." The Reaper said.

"How do you know that?" Bunny asked.

"I can feel the souls. I felt the Oculi earlier, but didn't know what they were." Matthew explained tiredly rubbing his temples.

"So this black stuff is all that's left?" North asked walking over to the edge of the puddle.

"Yeah, the things melted." Bunny said poking the gritty ink with a claw.

"No, don't touch it!" The blond yelled. Bunny looked back and raised an eyebrow. The guardian of hope opened his mouth to say something, but noticed black starting to soak his fur. He tried to wipe it off, but it only started to infect it as well.

"Bunny!" Tooth yelled fluttering forward to help. The rabbit backed away and put his paws up telling Tooth to stay back. She stopped in her tracks watching Bunny. "What can we do?! How do we help him?"

Sandy threw a ball of dream sand hoping it would stop the ink, but it was only absorbed into it. The nightmare sand moved quicker and completely enveloped the guardian of hope before anyone could answer Tooth's question.

Bunny stood at attention, completely still except for his ears that would twitch at every move the guardians made. Pitch appeared out of the shadows and stood beside Bunny, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I was wondering which one of you idiots would touch it first." The king of nightmares said sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "The Oculi Mortui were only distractions, this was my real objective."

"Let him go Pitch!" Tooth screamed in anger flying at Pitch intending to tackle him, but he laughed menacingly and stepped back into the shadows disappearing again. Bunny lunged at Tooth, but she zipped out if the way over to where the rest of the guardians and Matthew were standing.

"Don't let him touch you! We don't know if it will transfer." North said pulling out a sword. Tooth grabbed his wrist. "I'm not going to hurt him Toothie."

"How do we fight him without hurting him?" Sandy signed. "Can the sand be beat with a soul like the Oculi?"

"I don't know." Matthew said as Bunny stepped closer to the guardians. "I can't call anyone forward though. No one that has affected him has died, but the pookas."

"Then bring pooka!" North yelled dive rolling out of the way of Bunny's attack.

"I can't! They didn't go back into the reincarnation cycle." The Reaper said. Bunny went to grab Tooth again, but she flew out of the way. The rabbit growled and dived for Jack and Matthew. The two flew out of his way. Sandy created a cloud of sand for North to stand on and Jack kept the Reaper in the air with wind. Everybody was out of Bunny's grasp.

The guardian of hope let out a furious howl and tried to jump onto Sandy's cloud. He managed to get his front paws on and went to pull himself up, but Sandy pulled his sand out from underneath him. The rabbit crashed back down to the ground and let out a strangled snarl.

Pitch appeared again and brought a horde of nightmares with him. He sent them after the guardians and they split up. Sandy put North back on the ground to fight and Jack kept Matthew as close as possible to him.

The Reaper fought with his hockey stick, but his movements were slightly sluggish. He barely had enough time to dodge out of the path of a nightmare or throw up a force field. His magic was weak and barely strong enough to hold a nightmare back, he'd over used it.

Matthew was focused on protecting himself and Jack that he didn't notice that Tooth had been knocked to the ground by a nightmare until she was screaming.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Matthew yelled as a nightmare slammed into his side. He had been distracted by Tooth and hadn't noticed it. Jack was there in seconds helping him to his feet and freezing the nightmare.

"Tooth!" They heard North yell. Jack called the wind and both flew over where they heard the commotion, the frost spirit freezing a couple night mares along the way. They landed beside North and saw what he was yelling about, Tooth was in the ground and Bunny was standing over her.

Sandy shot a blast of dream sand at the guardian of hope. It stunned him long enough for Tooth to get back in the air. Her feathers were ruffled, but she wasn't injured. "Keep close together, watch for Bunny." North said grabbing Jack and Matthew before a nightmare could have trampled them.

"Thanks North!" They both said in unison. They went back to fighting the nightmares this time as a group. Jack and Sandy kept Bunny back with ranged attacks while Matthew, Tooth and North kept the nightmares away from them. Pitch was trying to sneak some fearlings among the crowd of nightmares, but the Reaper easily spotted them and whisked them away.

"We need to figure out how to help Bunny. Is there any other way to get rid of that stuff?" North asked slashing through a mare and stabbing another.

Sandy threw a ball of dreamsand at the guardian of hope. It hit the cavern wall behind him. Bunny strutted around the outside of the cavern, walking on all fours, waiting for the right time to strike.

"Could throw him in a lake?" Jack suggested.

"Where are we going to get lake? How would we get him there? Don't think he's stupid enough, even like this, to jump into a lake." North said exasperatedly pausing for a second to think about it. "What about believer?"

Matthew searched the guardian of hope's soul for a specific believer that could help him. "The only believer that has affected him hugely is Sophie, but she's still alive." The Reaper said. "I'm going to try to pull the pookas forward. Just because they weren't put back into the reincarnation cycle doesn't mean they're gone."

"Are you okay to do that?" Jack asked worriedly. Matthew was already tired from bringing others back and using too much magic.

"I'll be fine, super tired, but fine." The blond said giving a reassuring smile. Jack stayed close; Matthew had to concentrate to bring a soul forward. He couldn't fight at the same time and Sandy was doing a good job on his own keeping Bunny back.

-❄"During the day, I don't believe in ghosts. At night, I'm a little more open-minded."❄-

**AN: In soul realm.**

The Reaper knew he would have to go far back go find the pookas, but he didn't realize how far back. He was back before earth was even created. It felt like it took years to find the pookas, but in the real world it was only seconds.

"A reaper? What are you doing here?" The eldest pooka asked once his vision cleared. He was tall, taller than the Easter bunny. He had bright blue eyes and golden fur with dark brown markings on his arms and forehead.

"I'm sorry to disturb your after life, but I need your help." Matthew said bowing slightly.

"What do you need our help with?" He asked. More pookas started to gather around. Matthew hadn't realized that the pookas shared a heaven. Most people had their own.

"Bunnymund has been attacked by Pitch. I need your help to free him." The Reaper said.

"E. Aster Bunnymund?" A pooka asked from behind him. The blond turned around to see a pooka that was about a foot taller than him. He had the same fur colours as Bunny, but they were inverted. Matthew nodded. "He's my son; we haven't seen him since..." He trailed off. "Where is he?"

"He's in a planet called earth; it formed after you came here." The Reaper explained more of what he knew about Bunny, it wasn't much and most of it was from Jack or North. "Right now, he's being controlled by Pitch. He needs someone close to him to break the spell."

"I will go." Bunny's father said. He looked to his leader. "If you'll let me?"

"Of course, Hyacinth." The golden pooka nodded.

"How will this work?" Bunny's father asked.

"I will pull your soul back into the present time. You will appear as an apparition that is semi-physical, but as soon as you are hit by something with the intent to injured, you will disappear back here. I will not be able to bring you back again." Matthew explained. Bunny's father nodded listening carefully.

"How will I help Aster? What do I do?" Hyacinth asked.

"Hugging, it melts the spell away." The Reaper said. "I'm not sure why it helps, but it works. It could be because of the contact, but I don't know."

"Right." Hyacinth said. "Let's hop to it!"

-❄"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."❄-

The Reaper blinked as his mind returned to the real world. He pulled Hyacinth's soul forward. He appeared next to him and smiled in a blue, almost purple silhouette.

"Keep him protected, don't let anything hit him." Matthew said spreading his wings and getting ready to protect the pooka. Jack was next to him and called the wind. He shot a wave of ice at the nightmares in front of them before moving. Hyacinth jumped out in front of them as soon as he spotted his son. North, Tooth and Sandy didn't question what was happening and followed close behind them. The nightmares had dwindled to where there was only a couple left. Bunny and Pitch were their only real threats now.

Hyacinth jumped in front of his son and grabbed him, pulling him into a bear hug. Bunny struggled to get away, but his father was stronger. The black gritty sand started to drip off of him and landed on the floor. This time it disappeared completely not leaving a trace.

"Dad?" Bunny asked shaking the last of the sand from his paw.

"Hello Aster." Hyacinth said with a smile. "I can't stay long, but I wanted to say that I am very proud of you and what you do for this planet."

"Thanks dad that means a lot." Bunny said with a smile hugging his father again. They hadn't noticed that Pitch had appeared again with an arrow in his hand. He threw it at Hyacinth and the soul disappeared. "Dad!" Bunny yelled. He growled and charged at Pitch. Pitch formed a scythe out of sand and swiped at Bunny. The guardian of hope dodged out of the way and grabbed Pitch by the collar and threw him against the wall.

The king of nightmares scrabbled to get to his feet, but Bunny had already grabbed him again. "Where do you think you're going?" He growled.

Pitch laughed and called the last of his fearlings and they dove for Bunny. Matthew whisked them away before they got too close to the guardian of hope. Pitch's face turned from confident too nervous as the fearlings were gone.

**AN: Forgot to do this last chapter. Normally post something like this every New Year! Adding a few more categories cuz why not?**

**Song:** Wasteland- Woodkid **  
**

 **Artist:** Woodkid or Johnny Cash **  
**

 **Movie:** Kingsman or The Red Baron **  
**

 **Move quote: "** I'm a Catholic whore, currently enjoying congress out of wedlock with my black Jewish boyfriend who works at a military abortion clinic. So, hail Satan, and have a lovely afternoon, madam." – Harry Hart, Kingsman **  
**

 **Quote: "** Never trust anyone too much; remember the devil was once an angel." –Ken Kaneki, Tokyo Ghoul **  
**

 **Game:** Undertale or Papers, Please **  
**

 **Book:** Prince of Thorns- Mark Lawrence **  
**

 **Fan fiction:** Fixed~PruCan by Hetaliagirl18(Wattpad, Hetalia fic) or Awakening by Gemini Star01(FanFiction, Hetalia fic) or Promises by Concinnity(Fanfiction, Storm Hawks fic)

 **Manga:** Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul: Re

 **Anime:** Yuri on Ice! or Tokyo Ghoul

 **Youtuber:** Jacksepticeye **  
**

 **Meme:** John cena

**What are you fav things of the year?**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Bunny smirked looking at the nervous Pitch. The nightmare king was practically shaking in his boots. He'd never seen Bunny look so angry.

"Bunny." North warned.

"What? I'm not going to do anything." He said dropping Pitch. The king of nightmares landed in a heap on the floor. It seemed like he was magically exhausted too. Bunny knelt down to his level and grabbed him by the collar again. "If you ever think about stealing another soul again, this will be nothing compared to how angry I will be. Understand?"

Pitch quickly nodded and Bunny let go of him. Pitch scrambled back into the shadows and disappeared. Bunny turned back to them. "Let's get outta here." He said.

"Da." North nodded and turned to Matthew who was leaning on Jack. "You have all the souls?" He asked. The Reaper nodded. "Good, then let's go back to pole!"

-❄"Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature."❄-

Once they were back at the pole North led them into the lounge. They all sat down and a yeti brought them coffee. The Reaper and frost spirit sat together on a couch while Sandy was floating around on a cloud of sand and the other guardians were sitting in armchairs. Matthew was sipping at his tiredly before setting it on the table in front of him and snuggling closer to Jack. On the way to the pole everyone kept asking if he was okay and the Reaper would nod and say he just needed a nap.

The winter spirit smiled and wrapped his arms around Matthew's waist and kissed him on the forehead. "Love you." Jack said. Matthew mumbled something back that he didn't catch; the Reaper had already fallen asleep.

The guardians continued with their conversations quietly letting Matthew sleep. None of them had much work to do; it was Bunny's and North's in between season. Tooth and Sandy could do their jobs from the pole.

It was only a couple hours later when the Reaper woke up. He was a little stiff and groggy, but North offered him more coffee and he was happy. North and Sandy started to have an argument over something Matthew didn't catch. Tooth and Jack had been pulled in by North and now they were all arguing. The blond stayed out of it humming happily with his eyes closed and coffee in hand.

Matthew heard footsteps coming his way and lazily opened his eyes. Bunny was standing in front of him looking a little bit nervous. "Hey, Rea-Matthew. Could I talk to you for a second?" He asked. Matthew nodded and set his cup of coffee down. He followed Bunny out into the hall way. "I just wanted to say thank you for saving my butt back there and I also want to apologize for how horrible I've been to you." The guardian of hope said looking the Reaper in the eyes. "I was jealous, suspicious and just being stupid. I hope I didn't hurt you when I grabbed you when you were leaving that meeting."

"No you didn't hurt me. I accept your apology; you had a right to be suspicious. You'd never met me or heard of me, plus my job and appearance. I didn't even take my hood down before Pitch pulled it down." Matthew said with a reassuring smile.

"I also wanted to ask you about my father and the pookas." Bunny said looking at the ground. Matthew could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Your father is fine and back with the pookas. He wasn't hurt by Pitch." The Reaper said. "He and the other pookas live in their version of heaven together."

"They were never reincarnated?" Bunny asked.

"Their souls were never put back into the reincarnation cycle." Matthew said shaking his head. "I don't know why, you'd have to ask Manny or Mother Nature."

"I will ask them about it." The guardian of hope said with a smile. "Thank you for forgiving me."

"No problem. Matthew smiled.

"We should go back in before the others start to worry." Bunny said. The blond nodded.

"What were they fighting about anyway?" The Reaper asked following Bunny back into the room.

"What cookie was better, chewy or crunchy." Bunny laughed.

"Really? That's it!" Matthew asked raising an eyebrow. Bunny nodded.

When they got back the guardians were still fighting. They had now made teams, it was North and Jack verses Tooth and Sandy. They were throwing snow balls, sand balls and cookies at each other making a huge mess of the room.

"Hey!" Bunny yelled getting the guardians attention. "Can't we just agree that chocolate is better?"

The other guardians stopped and thought about it. "We'll have a truce." North said then narrowed his eyes. "For now."

"Hello Birdie." Jack said flying over and giving him a kiss on the cheek. The Reaper smiled as Jack wrapped his arms around his waist. "Time to go home?" He asked resting his head on Matthew's shoulder.

"Yeah." The blond said. He was itching to be in his own bed with book. Jack and Matthew said goodbye to the guardians and started to head home. They flew lazily through the air, wind blowing them along.

Once they finally got home Jack swept Matthew off his feet and carried him into their cozy little cave. The frost spirit set him down on their bed and leaned down for a kiss. The Reaper smiled into the kiss. Matthew whined as Jack broke away to lean his staff against the wall. He crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around Matthew's waist pulling him close. The Reaper tucked his head under Jack's chin. It didn't take long for them both to fall peacefully asleep.

**AN: That's it! What did you think over all? I enjoyed writing this fic, but I don't think it's my best one. This was the shortest fic I've written so far! Still not very good at writing romance, but I think I'm getting a little bit better as time goes on.**

**I will be taking a bit of a brake to completely finish my next fic. I am currently fifteen chapters in and expecting it to be twenty to twenty-five chapters long. All I'm gonna say about it is that its 'filling a hole' I've noticed in the Hetalia fanfiction community. I have mentioned it before!**


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